Beit Iba, Sara, Anabta

Beit Iba, Sara: Sunday, 23.1.05. PM. Observers: Chen G., Susan L. (reporting)Summary:The fierce cold wind that sprung up during the afternoon hours echoedthe fierce, cold attitude of the soldiers at Beit Iba, a markedcontrast to the easygoing manner of the reserve soldiers("miluimniks") at Irtah. 13:50 AnabtaThe newly thriving, brilliantly colored spring greenery almost makesone forget the piles of rubbish and garbage that are strewn on thehillside and the ridge each side of the busy road. The barrier here isalso quiet, the coffee man telling us, as the men hanging around himalso, that it is indeed, quiet, that there are no problems, but whoknows what tomorrow will bring.. 14:00 The rest of the drive to Beit Iba moves us: everywhere, thealmond blossom seems to herald the arrival of better times, butperhaps that's only in nature. 14:15 At Beit Iba, there's a new, or different unit on duty, and it'snot a pleasant one. The officer in charge seemsto have his work complemented by the DCO representative who's also new. He seems to defend everything the soldiers do, the firstDCO rep. seen to be protecting the soldiers, facilitating nothing forthe Palestinians.As we arrive, there's an altercation with a taxi driver, who'sshouting to the officer in charge in good and fluent Hebrew. He comesup to the checkpoint, which is forbidden and accuses the soldiers ofnot letting him earn a living. According to the officer in charge,there are three taxi drivers who've "crossed the line", figurativelyand physically from the Nablus side. They're being punished, told tocome back at 16:00, which is what they do, one of them telling us he'sbeen at Beit Iba since 10:00 in the morning. 14:30 Three young men in the detention compound. One has been theretwo hours, but two of the three are released shortly after our arrival. 14:45 Unusually, today, people are coming to the checkpoint from bothsides, returning from visiting family during the first days of Eid alAdhar: the children are in their bright new clothes, the parentsstruggle with heavy hand baggage, as well as plastic bags, theturnstiles as unuser friendly as ever. The scene is more like anairport or a railroad station than a military checkpoint! Yet thesoldiers make no festive concessions. The tone of voice used byseveral today is harsh and ugly: telling people to go back, standthere, not here, 'wahad be wahad' (of course), impressing on them thatthey won't be called to present their IDs unless they do as they'retold, treating them as if they're children, Ugly!Yet the Palestinians are still in festive mood, the young womenwelcoming us warmly as we try to exchange friendly greetings with themin pidgin Arabic. 15:00 Everybody, including women, particularly when traveling alone,is carefully checked. We can't help but notice the tiny "petek", slipof paper which the soldier glances at. It's a crumpled, messy piece ofpaper, bearing numbers and some names. Later, this slip of paper ispropped up on the metal door of the pill box. It's one of theselaughable paradoxes that the army, with all its computerizedsophistication, relies on slips of paper like this to waylay or detainPalestinians.15:15 At the vehicle checkpoint, a van, a small minibus, is turnedback to Nablus. Although the Palestinians in it have permits, the vandoesn't. For the soldier, the case is open and shut: they need to geta permit for it. The fact that they can't do so since the Huwwaraoffice is closed, is of no concern. The soldier shrugs, saying, "Whatcan I do about it." Going by the book, and only the book, was thetheme of today's shift. 15:30 A mother waits at the checkpoint, having passed it. Her son isdetained in the compound. She is patient, they're on their way homefrom the festival, but her son is 20 years old and is "suspicious."The soldiers, on being asked to hasten the procedure, or beingquestioned as to why things are taking so long, insist that it's theSecurity Service that is keeping them waiting and refuse to relent. Another family's husband is also detained, he's arrived at thecheckpoint with his wife and mother. The wife insists that we help. Astory emerges, that he's an Israeli citizen, that his blue ID has beenconfiscated by the soldiers who insist that he knows he cannot visitfamily the other side of Nablus. (He got through a few days earlier,so some soldiers were more lenient.) A skirmish now takes place withthe DCO rep., who is told, by us, that a citizen of Israel cannot bedetained like this. He insists that the army can do so. We insist thatit's a police matter. By now, the elderly mother is writhing on theground, her daughter calling for water, the soldiers saying they'llcall for an ambulance. There is noise and chaos. We try to phone thehumanitarian center, next the citizens' rights center, but they don'thelp, although they promise to call the DCO rep., who's nowdisappeared from inside the pill box where's he's been "working" allafternoon long - merely checking IDs.15:50 The soldiers now, seeming to have their act together, take theIsraeli's particulars from his ID (it's taken them an hour to do so),we say we'll follow up with the man, at which point, his ID is givenback - under threats from the soldiers that the police will be afterhim once he gets home. The old lady arises from the ground, suddenlywell, presses our hands warmly for helping (!), and the three of themgo off to Beit Iba. 16:10 En route to Sara, no flying checkpoints, and even Jit is clear.16:30 Sara. It seems the checkpoint is unmanned, but as we drive up there, foursoldiers emerge from the battered old "caravan" or from the clifftopabove, bored silly, longing to talk. They insist that the task they'reengaged in is "holy" work. No point in an argument. If they want tothink it's holy, then, we agree, it's holy to them. Under my breath, Imutter, then our work is "holy" too.